Scaling Yourself: The LEGO Principle

Core Principle: If you want to grow as fast as your company, give away your job every 3-6 months.

The LEGO Analogy

You're Building Alone

┌─────────────────┐
│  ████████████   │ Too many LEGOs!
│  ████████████   │ Can't build it all
│  ████████████   │ You're the bottleneck
└─────────────────┘

Sign it's time to hire: You're the critical path for everything

After You Hire

┌─────────────────┐
│ Your LEGOs →    │
│         New hire│
│                 │
│ New tower ← You │
└─────────────────┘

The secret: Give away your LEGOs, find bigger ones

When to Hire: Bottleneck Detection

✅ Hire When You See These Signs

• [ ] You're the blocker: Team waiting on you for decisions/reviews
• [ ] Reactive mode: No time for strategic work
• [ ] Opportunity cost: Saying "no" to high-impact projects
• [ ] Quality suffering: Cutting corners due to time pressure
• [ ] Burnout risk: Working nights/weekends consistently

❌ Don't Hire Yet If

• [ ] You can automate it: Build the tool instead